Purpose: Anointed to Do Good

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
– Acts 10:38

There are two missions of Jesus captured above: doing good and healing those oppressed by the devil. Our meditation today will be focused on the first one.

No doubt, if one was to describe the life of Jesus Christ, based on all our meditations in the past few months about His purpose and mission on earth, benevolence is an apt word to sum up His personality and activities. The intensity of His engagements with people and the effects He had on their lives when He was physically present were phenomenal. Now 1,987 years after His physical departure from Earth, the impacts He has had in the lives of innumerable people across different ages and climes on a daily basis were even more mind-blowing.

The interesting thing about His good works is that they are not static or one-off. The Bible says He “went about doing” them. That means He did not discriminate where His benevolence would be focused; His acts of kindness were without bias and were extended to the Jews, the Samaritans, the Greeks, the Romans, the Syro-Phoenicians, and other nationalities. He taught them, healed them, delivered them, fed them, raised their dead, and restored their sights, among other things.

His good work was also not a one-off, as He continued to minister to people day and night even at personal inconveniences, such that when He was urged to eat at one time, He said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34).

The charge to do good is a universal calling. Jesus only came to show us how best to do it. Through His personal examples, He modelled to us the right spirit with which to do it as well as the commitment, the passion, the focus, the compassion, and the consistency needed to make an appreciable impact.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Handling Adversities

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling.

It seemed that as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.

She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me, what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” the young woman replied. The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity – boiling water – but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened! The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” the mother asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong but, with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit but, after a death, a breakup, or a financial hardship, does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavour.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Meditation: He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved; I shall never be in adversity.” – Psalm 10:6

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

The Story of Tommy

The Atheist Theology Student Who Was Found by God

– Author Unknown

John Powell, a professor at Loyola University in Chicago, writes about a student in his Theology of Faith class named Tommy:

Some twelve years ago, I stood watching my university students file into the classroom for our first session in the Theology of Faith. That was the first day I first saw Tommy. My eyes and my mind both blinked. He was combing his long flaxen hair, which hung six inches below his shoulders.

It was the first time I had ever seen a boy with hair that long. I guess it was just coming into fashion then. I know in my mind that it isn’t what’s on your head, but what’s in it that counts; but on that day I was unprepared and my emotions flipped.

I immediately filed Tommy under “S” for strange … very strange. Tommy turned out to be the “atheist in residence” in my Theology of Faith course. He constantly objected to, smirked at, or whined about the possibility of an unconditionally loving Father-God. We lived with each other in relative peace for one semester, although I admit he was for me at times a serious pain in the back pew.

When he came up at the end of the course to turn in his final exam, he asked in a slightly cynical tone: “Do you think I’ll ever find God?”

I decided instantly on a little shock therapy. “No!” I said very emphatically.

“Oh,” he responded, “I thought that was the product you were pushing.”

I let him get five steps from the classroom door and then called out: “Tommy! I don’t think you’ll ever find him, but I am absolutely certain that He will find you!” He shrugged a little and left my class and my life.

I felt slightly disappointed at the thought that he had missed my clever line: “He will find you!” At least I thought it was clever. Later I heard that Tommy had graduated and I was duly grateful.

Then a sad report, I heard that Tommy had terminal cancer. Before I could search him out, he came to see me. When he walked into my office, his body was very badly wasted, and the long hair had all fallen out as a result of chemotherapy. But his eyes were bright and his voice was firm, for the first time, I believe. “Tommy, I’ve thought about you so often. I hear you are sick!” I blurted out.

“Oh, yes, very sick. I have cancer in both lungs. It’s a matter of weeks.”

“Can you talk about it, Tom?”

“Sure, what would you like to know?”

“What’s it like to be only twenty-four and dying?”

“Well, it could be worse.”

“Like what?”

“Well, like being fifty and having no values or ideals, like being fifty and thinking that booze, seducing women, and making money are the real ‘biggies’ in life.”

I began to look through my mental file cabinet under “S” where I had filed Tommy as strange. (It seems as though everybody I try to reject by classification God sends back into my life to educate me.)

To continue tomorrow…

Meditation: And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. – Ezekiel 22:30

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

How to Reign In Your Business and Career

So Solomon came to Jerusalem from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel. – 2 Chronicles 1:13

This passage gives us an insight into what to do to reign in life: in career, business, industry, ministry, or wherever you find yourself.

Solomon had just been crowned the king of Israel, and it is interesting to note that one of the first things he did was to go to the high place at Gibeon. He didn’t go for sight-seeing or physical exercise; he went there to seek the face of God, to pray and offer sacrifices to Him. By the time he was through, he had an encounter with God that determined the course of his reign and, indeed, the rest of his life.

Before his visit to the high place, some of the words used to describe his kingship in that same chapter include “strengthened”, “kingdom”, and “exalted”. He was not described as reigning. But, by the time he came down from the high place and the tabernacle of meeting, “he reigned over Israel.”

Perhaps, we can learn some lessons from this. If you desire to reign in your circle, you must be a man or woman of God’s presence and a regular visitor to the high place, which is the place of prayer. You must be someone who has time for God and seeks His counsel on every matter.

The high place doesn’t necessarily mean going to Prayer Mountains. If you can make time to go, fine. But, you can always pray in your personal space; your closet can be your high place. The most important thing is to maintain an unbroken fellowship with God and always seek His counsel and direction on everything. If you are faithful in doing that, you will reign in your circle, because “honor does not come from the east or the west or from the desert. But God is the One Who decides. He puts down one and brings respect to another” (Psalm 75:6-7, NLV).

Now that you know what it takes to reign, what do you want to do about it?

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

How to Receive Anything

– Author Unknown

There once was a happy monkey wandering the jungle, eating delicious fruit when hungry, and resting when tired. One day he came upon a house, where he saw a bowl of the most beautiful apples. He took one in each hand and ran back into the forest.

He sniffed the apples and smelled nothing. He tried to eat them, but hurt his teeth. They were made of wood, but they were beautiful, and when the other monkeys saw them, he held onto them even tighter.

He admired his new possessions proudly as he wandered the jungle. They glistened red in the sun, and seemed perfect to him. He became so attached to them, that he didn’t even notice his hunger at first.

A fruit tree reminded him, but he felt the apples in his hands. He couldn’t bear to set them down to reach for the fruit. In fact, he couldn’t relax, either, if he was to defend his apples. A proud, but less happy monkey continued to walk along the forest trails.

The apples became heavier, and the poor little monkey thought about leaving them behind. He was tired, hungry, and he couldn’t climb trees or collect fruit with his hands full. What if he just let go?

Letting go of such valuable things seemed crazy, but what else could he do? He was so tired. Seeing the next fruit tree, and smelling it’s fruit was enough. He dropped the wooden apples and reached up for his meal. He was happy again.

Like that little monkey, we sometimes carry things that seem too valuable to let go. A man who carries an image of himself as “productive” carries it like a shiny wooden apple. But in reality, his busyness leaves him tired and hungry for a better life. Still, letting go seems crazy. Even his worries are sacred apples – they prove he’s “doing everything he can.” He holds onto them compulsively.

This is a hard thing to see. We identify so strongly with our things, even feeling pain when our cars are dented. How much will God identify us with our faith and His commandments? Do you obey them? But we have always searched after vain pleasures to make us happy, Yet they don’t always feed our souls, do they? And we become tired of defending them.

How else could the story end?

The monkey might be found dead of hunger, under a beautiful tree, with fruit within reach, but still grasping his wooden apples. I chose to end it with him letting go, because only with open hands can we receive anything. Ask God and He will give you more greater riches.

Meditation: For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. – 1 Timothy 6:7

You will succeed because Jesus loves You!

The Daffodil Principle

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. – Ecclesiastes 9:10

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over.” I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead.

“I will come next Tuesday,” I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, “Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!”

My daughter smiled calmly and said, “We drive in this all the time, Mother.”

“Well, you won’t get me back on the road until it clears, and then I’m heading for home!” I assured her.

“I was hoping you’d take me over to the garage to pick up my car.”

“How far will we have to drive?”

“Just a few blocks,” Carolyn said. “I’ll drive. I’m used to this.”

After several minutes, I had to ask, “Where are we going? This isn’t the way to the garage!”

“We’re going to my garage the long way,” Carolyn smiled, “by way of the daffodils.”

“Carolyn,” I said sternly, “please turn around.”

“It’s all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand-lettered sign that read, “Daffodil Garden.” We got out of the car and each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns-great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

“But who has done this?” I asked Carolyn.

“It’s just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “She lives on the property. That’s her home.” Carolyn pointed to a well-kept frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking” was the headline.

The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs,” it reads. The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain.” The third answer was, “Began in 1958.” There it was, The Daffodil Principle. For me, that moment was a life-changing experience.

I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun-one bulb at a time-to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world. This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable (indescribable) magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time – often just one baby-step at a time – and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

“It makes me sad in a way,” I admitted to Carolyn. “What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it ‘one bulb at a time’ through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!”

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. “Start tomorrow,” she said. It’s so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, “How can I put this to use today?”

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Is Your Good Idea God’s Idea?

The interesting true-life conversation below between a father and his five-year-old son underscores the importance of running our good idea on the litmus of divine will and agenda. The dialogue was narrated by the father:

Driving down to my office with my five-year-old son, we drove past Domino Pizza/Coldstone Ice cream.

Son: Daddy, I want to check out that Coldstone Ice cream.

Father: Uh, okay. Maybe we will when we’re going home.

About 3 hours later, I actually forgot and took another route on our way home. On sighting Fountain, he realised we did not pass the Coldstone route.

Son: But, daddy, I said I wanted to check out Coldstone Ice cream!

Father: Oops! Sorry, I forgot.

Son: Can’t we go back?

Father: Sorry, son. No chance. Maybe next time we’ll go there.

Son: Ok… [not so happy]

Some minutes later, whilst still thinking about the encounter.

Father: But, son, you said you wanted to “check out” the ice-cream, right?

Son: Yes, dad.

Father: If we had gone there, who would have paid for the ice-cream?

He looked stunned for some seconds.

Son: You, of course!

Father: But it wasn’t my idea that we check out ice-cream. The idea was yours. Why should I be the one to pay?

The natural, logical answer.

Son: Because you’re my daddy.

Father: Yes, I am. But that doesn’t mean that I have to pay for it just because you want it.

Silence….

Lesson: Now, isn’t that the way we get with God? Yes, He is our Father, and a very loving Father at that. But does that mean He is bound to provide resources for all our whimsical ideas, dreams, business, ambitions, projects, desires, etc?

How many times do we get stunned like that little boy when God decided to look the other way rather than cater to our whims, even though we are very excited about them and cannot wait to get cracking with them? Is your good idea God’s idea? Remember, if it’s not His idea, then God is not obligated to power it. If He did not commission it, He may not sponsor it, and if it is not His will, it will not be on His bill. And this has nothing to with whether He loves us or not.

Meditation: Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. – Psalm 32:9

You will succeed in Jesus Name!